Chocolate Grain Question

[golfguy819]

I decided to try and brew a California Common this weekend and used the recipe from the Brewing Classic Styles book by Jamil Zainasheff and John Palmer. Went to my LHBS to pick up the grain and ran into an issue. The recipe called for 2 oz of pale chocolate malt (200 lovibond), but all they had was 350 lovibond. Rather then eliminate it, I decided to use what they had and reduced it to 1 oz. I know with the little amount, it's there for color and I'm hoping it doesn't come out too dark. Here's the rest of the grain bill:

10#- 2 row
1.25#- Munich
1#- Crystal 40
0.5#- Victory

The recipe also called for 3.9 oz northern brewer hops and they only had 1 oz. The closest substitute they had was perle, so I picked up the 1 oz of NB and 3 oz of perle. needless to say it wasn't a great trip, but I did get their last vile of San Fran lager yeast haha.

 

[LovesIPA]

I think it would come out fine either way. It's such a tiny amount that you probably wouldn't even be able to tell the difference, even side-by-side.

I don't know what Chocolate malt is doing in a California Common steam beer recipe though.

Perle wouldn't be my first choice as a substitute. Northern Brewer doesn't have a lot of flavor or aroma. Perle doesn't have very much, but some people describe it as minty which might or might not work out. Crystal would be a good substitute as it doesn't impart a lot of flavor or aroma either.

 

[Omahawk]

In the podcast, Jamil claims that pale chocolate lends a slight roasty flavor that's unique and can't be subbed. That said, this will still make a good beer. Go for it.

 

[golfguy819]

Thanks for the inputs guys. The LHBS was pretty limited today so that's why I went w/ the perle hops. That was the only thing they had. I figured w/ the lack of the called grain and hops bill, it would still make a fairly decent beer, so I'm looking forward to going through w/ it and brewing Saturday. Plus that's the day I get to tap my blonde ale and cherry stout so worst comes to worst I'll RDWHAHB and brew on!

 

[catdaddy66]

Two recipes that I've used had the same grist, 10#'s of 2 row and a pound of crystal 60. Used two ounces of NB hops in one batch and three in the other. Never had chocolate malt so I would say 1 oz of 350L is plenty. The beer should classically be NB hops but I like perle a lot. See what happens... It's bound to be beer!


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[golfguy819]

Tomorrow's brew day and I'm looking forward to seeing how it turns out. I made my first starter Wednesday night after drinking a few pints of imperial stout. Pulled it off the stir plate this morning and threw it in the fridge. Mr.malty recommended a 2L starter and mine came out to just over 1.25L so we'll see how that turns out.

 

[golfguy819]

Well, the color came out perfect. Not a hint of darkness at all and I probably could have gotten away w/ the 2 oz instead of 1. Came in w/ an OG of 1.064 (shooting for 1.066) so I'm glad I made a starter, even one that may have been a little too small by calculation standards. I did get to use my new grain mill and was really happy w/ the crush using the factory settings (got 75% efficiency) so I doubt I'll tweak it too much. As an added bonus, got to finally drink some of the blonde ale and cherry stout I brewed a few weeks ago. Both turned out amazing!

 

[golfguy819]

While I'm making a starter for my pumpkin ale, thought I'd post a quick pic of the beer.
I'm really happy with the way it came out and it's been a real hit so far. Will be brewing this again